Sports

Sri Lanka, India and South Africa kick off World Cup preparations with ODI tri-series

Published

9 months ago

2025/04/26

Priyan

Arundhati Reddy is expected to lead India's pace attack in the absence of Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu and Pooja Vastrakar [BCCI]

The Women’s ODI World Cup is five months away and, after the drama of the qualifier in which Pakistan and Bangladesh confirmed their places at the tournament, preparation begins in Sri Lanka with a tri seried. Sri Lanka host India and South Africa for a seven-match tournament, which will include the pressure of reaching a final. All three sides have uncapped players in their squads so there are bound to be some new faces alongside old rivalries.

Here’s what you can look forward to over the next two weeks:

India’s quest for silverware begins

As hosts of this year’s World Cup, and after their failure to make the semi-finals of the last T20 tournament, all eyes will be on India to see if they can grab their first major trophy and continue to set the pace for the development of the game. Their players come into the series on the back of recent game time in the WPL and a six-match winning streak in ODIs, albeit against non-World Cup participants Ireland and West Indies. Regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur missed the Ireland matches but is back to lead the side in a sign that the leadership will remain unchanged heading into the World Cup.

Their most exciting prospect is 22-year old Kashvee Gautam, who was the most expensive uncapped player of the WPL and has Harmanpreet’s name on her wickets’ list. She was the joint-leading bowler among Indian players at the WPL with 11 to her tally (along with Shikha Pandey, who has not played an international in two years) and had best economy rate among Indian bowlers (and second best overall) and her international call-up is as deserved as it is expectant.

There was no such reward for the leading Indian run-scorer at the WPL. Shafali Verma scored two runs more than Harmanpreet and was fourth-highest overall but cannot find a spot in a squad that includes Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh. While India’s batting looks strong and familiar, their bowling reserves could be tested as all of Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu and Pooja Vastrakar are injured which will leave it to Arundhati Reddy to lead the pace attack. Left-arm spinners N Shree Charani and Shuchi Upadhyay are the two others who could have their first international outing. Upadhyay was the third-highest wicket-taker in the domestic women’s one-day trophy last year.

Sri Lanka’s sweeping changes

Sri Lanka are back at the ODI World Cup after missing out on the 2022 edition and secured automatic qualification when they finished fifth in the Women’s Championship, ahead of New Zealand, but there’s work to be done to have a good tournament showing. Sri Lanka have lost their last two series – to Ireland and New Zealand – and will want to find form ahead of the World Cup, especially as they are not scheduled to play any other matches between now and the start of the tournament.

They’ve rung in the changes for this series, with six from the last squad, and included four uncapped players as well. Thirty-nine-year-old left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera is back in a squad that will be headlined by a strong spin contingent, including Malki Madara, who may get her first game. There are three other spinners in Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani and Kavisha Dilhari, which has left space for only two seamers. Achini Kulasuriya is one of them and 18-year-old allrounder Rasmika Sewwandi, who was part of the Under-19 squad, is the other.

Sri Lanka’s batting is well-settled and the challenge will be for them to continue finding contributions from sources other than Chamari Athapaththu, who will doubtless be key to their World Cup campaign, but has stressed the need for the load to be shared. Slowly, that’s started to happen. Harshita Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne both scored hundreds in the last year and became the only Sri Lankan batters other than Athapaththu to do so. Sri Lanka will want to see more names on that list soon.

South Africa without Kapp

Before South Africa can start thinking about whether this World Cup could be the one where they take one more step than usual to get to the trophy, they have to find their feet under a new(ish) coach Mandla Mashimbyi, who has enjoyed title-winning success with the Titans provincial team but had no prior experience in women’s cricket, was appointed late last year and oversaw part of the home series against England (which went badly as South Africa won only one match out of seven across formats), but this will be his first proper test.

He will take it without senior allrounder Marizanne Kapp, who is being rested as she manages her workload, or batter Anneke Bosch, who is injured, but has the core of the squad that reached the T20 World Cup final at his disposal. That includes legspinner Seshnie Naidu, who did not get a game in the UAE but may play a big role alongside Nonkululekho Mlaba in future visits to the subcontinent.

Wicketkeeper-batter Karabo Meso, who was key to South Africa’s run to the Under-19 World Cup final, is the talk of the town on the domestic circuit and could bring depth to a batting line-up that will have an in-form Sune Luus (third on the domestic run-scorers charts) and the experience of Laura Wolvaardt, Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon to lean on. South Africa have also gone light on seamers with Masabata Klaas and allrounders Annerie Dercksen and de Klerk to share duties as they aim to give their spinners a solid run. South Africa will also travel to West Indies and Pakistan before the World Cup.

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Gardner and Wareham lead Giants to opening-game victory

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/11

Priyan

Phoebe Litchfield's fighting half-century went in vain [Cricinfo]

Georgia Wareham towered over the rest with an impressive all-round show to lead Gujarat Giants to an impressive opening match win over UP Warriorz.

Wareham’s unbeaten 10-ball 27 gave Giants the finishing kick they needed to nudge past 200, after a half-century from Ashleigh Gardner had laid the perfect platform. Then Wareham picked up the massive wickets of Meg Lanning and Harleen Deol to scupper Warriorz’s chase.

Phoebe Litchfield’s 40-ball 78 kept Warriorz in the hunt, but her dismissal proved decisive. Warriorz, however, managed to stem some net-run-rate damage courtesy a neat cameo from Asha Sobhana.

Sophie Devine briefly wrested the initiative in the powerplay, taking down Deepti Sharma in the fourth over, but a double-strike kept Giants in check. Beth Mooney was undone by a Sophie Ecclestone arm-ball in the fifth over, while Devine holed out to deep midwicket off Shikha Pandey for a 20-ball 38 in the sixth.

She exhibited this best when she danced down the track and got leg-side of the ball before lofting Ecclestone inside-out between cover and point for four. Gardner, initially measured, shifted gears decisively in the 13th over, carving Kranti Gaud for three boundaries.

She turned up the heat further, launching three sixes, off Asha and Ecclestone, across the 14th and 15th overs. Giants plundered 49 runs from overs 13 to 15, a burst that carried Gardner to her half-century off just 30 balls.Wareham walked in halfway through the 17th over, and had stamped her mark on the innings by the end of Giants’ innings. The highlight was her onslaught against Deandra Dottin, the former Giants allrounder, hitting for three sixes in the 19th over.

Wareham could have been dismissed on 13, though, had Gaud held on to a simple chance at cover point in the same over. Bharti Fulmali then showcased her hitting prowess, muscling Deepti for two sixes in the final over to take Giants past 200.

Warriorz lost Kiran Navgire in the first over, to Renuka Singh, but Litchfield looked in sparkling form from the outset. Her exhilarating strokeplay somewhat consigned Mrg Lanning to the background for much of their 70-run second-wicket stand before the floodgates opened, with Warriorz losing three wickets in four deliveries to go into a full-blown collapse.

At 74 for 4, Warriorz held back Dottin and promoted their lone retention, Shweta Sehrawat. And she made everyone go wow first ball, launching Renuka down the ground for six. If that was audacious, two consecutive sixes off Gardner in the following over were truly exhilarating.

Litchfield’s progress to her half-century in 29 balls was no less entertaining. She swept, reverse-swept, paddled, and moved across the stumps to mow length deliveries into the leg side.

Warriorz’s hopes rose through the course of a fifth-wicket stand of 69, but Litchfield’s dismissal, coming soon after that of Sehrawat who was bowled missing a slog-sweep off Rajeshwari Gayakwad, proved to be the clincher.

Asha’s cameo from there on merely reduced the margin of defeat.

Brief scores:
Gujarat Giants Women 207 for 4 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 13, Sophia Devine 38, Ashleigh Gardner 65, Anushka Sharma 44, Georgia Wareham 27*, Bharati Fulmali 14*; Shikha Pandey 1-29, Deandra Dottin 1-47, Sophie Ecclestone 2-32) beat UP Warriorz Women 197 for 8 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 30, Phoebe Litchfield 78, Shweta Sehrawat 25, Deandra Dottin 12, Sophie Ecclestone 11, Asha Sobhana 27*; Renuka Singh 2-25, Sophie Devine 2-55, Ashleigh Gardner 1-37, Georgia Wareham 2-30, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 1-07) by 10 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Harmanpreet, Sciver-Brunt lead Mumbai Indian’s demolition of Delhi Capitals

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/11

Priyan

Harmanpreet Kaur hits out [Cricinfo]

After a nail-biter slipped through their hands in the last over of the opening night of WPL 2026, defending champions Mumbai Indians bounced back with style and thrashed three-time table-toppers Delhi Capitals with bruising half-centuries from their experienced duo of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet Kaur, and a three-for from their fresh recruit Nicola Carey, Chasing an imposing 196, DC slipped to 33 for 4 in the sixth over and hardly ever looked like bouncing back, eventually falling short by 50 runs.

As is often the case for MI, the heavy lifting with the bat was done by Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet, especially in the absence of the injured allrounder Hayley Matthews. After the boundary-laden half-century from Sciver-Brunt and some late sixes from Harmanpreet powered MI close to 200, Carey’s early seam movement knocked over the off stumps of Shafali Verma and Laura Wolvaardt, before also accounting for Marizanne Kapp. From 33 for 4, DC stuttered to 86 for 6 as Amelia Kerr also chipped in with an economical spell and three wickets that rolled over DC for 145.

For the second game in a row, MI’s openers failed: Kerr fell for a duck while Gunalan Kamalini struggled to 16 off 19. After a scratchy 4 off 15 on Friday night in the season opener, Kerr edged her first legal delivery – an outswinger from Chinelle Henry – behind, as Lizelle Lee completed a diving catch on her second attempt. Kamalini also handed a diving catch to Lee, soon after she smashed Nandani Sharma for consecutive fours down the ground, but the debutant’s riposte earned her a maiden WPL wicket with Kamalini’s thick outside edge.

Sciver-Brunt then led MI’s innings and looked in top form, smashing three fours in her first four balls to different corners of the ground. She collected another pair of consecutive fours, again going after Henry, and took MI to 43 for 1 in the powerplay. While Sciver-Brunt went about finding the boundaries against the spinners too for a 32-ball fifty, Harmanpreet took her time to reach 15 off 17 before taking off.

The Harmanpreet act started when she dispatched Henry for six over long-on. She followed it with her trademark loft over the covers for four, to take MI past 100 at the end of the 13th over. Sciver-Brunt then outfoxed Minnu Mani with late adjustments for three fours in the next over, which went for 14, and even though the England batter was soon caught for 70 at cover, MI were set for a strong finish on 127 for 3 after 15.

Harmanpreet was not going after the bowlers by herself, however. She found a hard-hitting partner in Carey, who reverse-pulled for one of her four fours during her 21 off 12. But it was Harmanpreet’s clean striking that left the new DC captain Jemimah Rodrigues sweating, as the experienced MI leader played with the field, especially in the last over off Shree Charani. She hit four back-to-back fours to help MI collect 53 runs in the last four overs.

With Meg Lanning – the WPL’s second-highest scorer – released before the auction, DC had big shoes to fill at the top of the order. It didn’t happen on Saturday, at least, as Lee fell for 10 on her WPL debut.

Shafali and Wolvaardt then saw their off stumps pegged back as Carey seamed the ball into them, in the space of three balls in the fifth over. When Rodrigues fell to a one-handed stunner from Kamalini behind the stumps off Shabnim Ismail, DC had lost four wickets in the powerplay for the first time in the WPL.

DC still had hope with depth in their line-up, but when Kapp was also sent back by Carey, DC needed a stiff 150 runs from 78 balls. Chinelle Henry’s hitting from No. 7 was the only silver lining for DC. Her penchant for boundaries belied DC’s score as she went after the inexperienced Triveni Vasishta – on WPL debut – and even the experienced Kerr. While she collected boundaries, wickets fell at the other end, and the asking rate climbed from over 12 after the halfway mark to nearly 20 by the time four overs were left.

Henry brought up her second WPL fifty in eight innings with a big six over long-on, but once she fell for 56 with the score 133, DC lasted just 11 more balls for 12 runs, before going down in their season opener.

Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians Women 195 for 4 in 20 overs (GunalanKamalini 16, Harmanpreet Kaur 74*, Nat Sciver-Brunt 70, Nicola Carey 21; Chinelle Henry 1-32, Shree Charani 1-45, Nandani Sharma 2-26) beat Delhi Capitals Women 145 in 19 overs (Lizelle Lee 10, Marizanne Kapp 10, Niki Prasad 12, Chinelle Henry 56, Sneh Rana 11, Shree Charani 10*; Shabnim Ismail 1-14, Nat Sciver Brunt 2-29, Amelia Kerr 3-24, Nicola Carey 3-37, Sanskriti Gupta 1-09) by 50 runs

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Patience and stability the missing pieces in Sri Lanka’s T20 puzzle

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/11

Thilina Walpola

Despite much promise and winning a few games, Dunith Wellalage hasn’t been able to cement his place in the T20 side.

The upcoming T20 World Cup, featuring 20 teams across a frenetic three-week carnival, has whetted appetites among fans, players and administrators alike. Scratch beneath the surface and the contenders fall neatly into three baskets. There are the heavyweights; Australia, England and India, with South Africa firmly in that front rank. Then come the dark horses: Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan, sides capable of blowing hot and cold but dangerous on their day. And finally, the also-rans, teams largely battle-hardened through the qualifying grind.

As co-hosts, Sri Lanka would like to believe they belong in the second bracket, coming into the tournament as dark horses rather than merely making up numbers. But form, that most unforgiving of judges, tells a harsher story. Six months out from the World Cup, the former champions have looked closer to the third category than the second. In an era where 200 has become par for the course in T20Is, Sri Lanka are struggling to bat out their 20 overs, a red flag if ever there was one. Their opening skirmish against Pakistan in the ongoing series did little to lift the mood or the belief.

The obvious question is: what have Pakistan done right that Sri Lanka haven’t?

No one expects Sri Lanka to suddenly roll out a production line of express quicks to rival Pakistan’s fearsome fast-bowling arsenal. That cupboard is well stocked in Pakistan and admired by all and sundry. But their batting depth and spin options have not materialised overnight. They are the dividends of continuity and clarity, commodities Sri Lanka have been short of.

Take Kamindu Mendis. Across formats, he has been a reliable all-rounder, even if he hasn’t always set the world on fire. Yet the evidence is there: his skill set is good enough to win you games. Once you identify such a player, you give him a long rope. You don’t pull the plug after a couple of low scores.

Then there is the curious case of Kusal Janith Perera. It is hard to fathom how a player deemed good enough for the squad struggles to crack the playing XI. KJP is a destructive batter, a high-risk, high-reward operator. His methods won’t always win him admirers, but impatience with a proven match-winner smacks of short-term thinking.

Continuity, after all, is the bedrock of a successful cricket team. There was little logic in stripping Charith Asalanka of the T20 captaincy. Now low on confidence, he risks sliding out of World Cup contention altogether.

Selectors have also dusted off an old playbook by turning again to Dhananjaya de Silva. Before and during the last World Cup, he was tasked with batting through the innings to arrest collapses. The experiment failed and he was axed. Now, on the eve of another World Cup, he is back in the saddle. It feels less like strategy and more like musical chairs.

The other burning issue is the gaping hole in the lower order. Too many bowlers are passengers with the bat, leaving the tail exposed. Dunith Wellalage offers a partial solution, yet he has failed to cement his place. Yes, his bowling can be a weak link, but if he was identified as a future star, the onus was on the management to back him, build his confidence and tell him he belongs in the big league.

With the World Cup at home and conditions tailor-made for spin, an operator like Wellalage should have been banked on long ago.

Rex Clementine

in Dambulla ✍️